WEBVTT
ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE
DECLINING ATTENDANCE.
MATT: IT'S GAME DAY
>> GO KNIGHTS.
MATT: AND FANS ARE PUMPED
.
>> GO KNIGHTS.
MATT: AT LEAST, THE ONES WHO
SHOWED UP.
FOR THE LAST HOME GAME OF TH
SEAS, THE STADIUM WAS ABOUT
THREE QUARTERS FULL.
>> IT'S SAD THAT WE'RE NOT
FILLING THE STANDS.
MATT SCOTT RYERSON WAS A PLACE
KICKER FOR THE TEAM IN THE EARLY
1980'S.
HE'S BEEN A SEASON TICKET HOLDER
EVER SINCE AND SAYS HE'S NEVER
MISSED A GAME.
HE WISHES OTHERS FELT THE SAME.
>> THEY ARE PUTTING A GOOD CROP
ON THE FIELD.
THEY'RE NOT SHOWING UP FOR THE
GAMES AND IT'S DISAPPOINTING.
MATT: THE TEAM HAS BOUNCED BACK
FROM LAST YEAR'S DEVASTATING
0-12 SEASON.
BUT DONORS AND ALUMNI TELL WESH
2 THEY'RE CONCERNED ABOUT
DECLINING ATTENDANCE.
>> I'M GLAD I WASN'T SCALPING
TICKETS.
MATT: PAUL CHINARIS HAS BEEN A
SEASON TICKET HOLDER FOR SIX
YEARS.
>> THE ONLY THING I CAN IMAGINE
IS BEING A COMMUTER SCHOOL, YOU
DON'T HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE AS
INVESTED IN THAT SCHOOL.
MATT: THE STADIUM HOLDS 45,000
FANS.
ACCORDING TO THE TEAM'S WEBSITE,
AROUND 30,000 PEOPLE ATTENDED
LAST WEEK'S HOME GAME AGAINST
CINCINATTI.
BUT GOING INTO THE THIRD
QUARTER, WITH THE KNIGHTS UP
10-3, MOST OF THE UPPER BOWL WAS
EMPTY.
ACCORDING TO UCF, THE TEAM
AVERAGED 35,000 FANS PER HOME
GAME.
THAT'S UP FROM LAST YEAR.
BUT DOWN, ATTENDANCE FIGURES
SHOW FROM JUST THREE YEARS AGO
, WHEN MORE THAN 40,000 FANS, ON
AVERAGE, SHOWED UP.
>> I WISH MORE PEOPLE WOULD COME
OUT, AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY.
MATT: ATHLETIC DIRECTOR DANNY
WHITE WOULD NOT ELABORATE BUT

“It’s sad that we’re not filling the stands,” said Scott Ryerson, who was the team’s kicker from 1980-83.

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Ryerson, who wore number 42 has been a season ticket holder since 1985. He says he’s never missed a home game and wishes others felt the same.

“I’m very disappointed with the attendance and students as well as the general fans,” said Ryerson. “They’re putting a good product on the field and they’re not showing up for the games. And it’s disappointing.”

Under a new coach the team has bounced back from last year’s devastating 0-12 season. But several donors and alumni tell WESH 2 they are concerned about declining attendance.

“I’m glad I wasn’t scalping tickets,” said Paul Chinaris, a season ticket holder for six years. “The only thing I can imagine is it being a commuter school, you don’t have people who are as invested in the school as you would at some of the bigger schools in the state.”

The stadium holds 45,301 fans. On the last home game of the season, the stadium was only three quarters full. On Nov. 12, 30,346 fans attended the home game against Cincinnati, according to attendance figures provided by the team. But video taken at the game, heading into the third quarter with the Knights up 10-3, showed most of the upper bowl, and half the stadium, empty.

This year the team averaged 35,934 fans per home game, according to attendance figures provided by the team. That is up from last year when an average of 30,064 attended. But it is down from 2014 and 2013. That year, an average of 41,310 fans attended each home game.

“I wish more people would come out,” said Chinaris. “And I don’t understand why.”

Athletic Director Danny White says they will be doing things “differently” next year to bring more fans out but would not elaborate.